Daughter Thai set to open casual noodle joint next door

Before Ounjit Hardacre opened Daughter Thai in 2019, her first dream was to serve noodles.

Now she will get that chance. She and business partner Dueanphen Rungrueang will debut Insee Thai in the late spring at 1700 Platte St. — right next to Daugther Thai in Lower Highland — a counter-service noodle joint named after Hardacre’s father.

“I have Daughter, so I wanted something for my dad. The name reminds me of someone who is always working hard and never giving up. I wanted the name to inspire me to work hard,” she said.

Hardacre and Rungrueang first met in San Francisco while Hardacre was attending graduate school. They were both hustling bowls at the super high-volume King of Thai Noodle House, a palatial two-story purveyor of some of that city’s best broth.

After moving to Colorado, Hardacre and her husband, Duane, opened Citizen Thai in Golden, where she could run the family joint while being close to her twin sons and their daily trek to and from school. Following its success, she opened the more upscale Daughter in LoHi, still serving slightly Americanized versions of Thai and Chinese staples.

“Daughter takes parts of Citizen and makes it more upscale. I didn’t want it to look like a mom-and-pop joint,” said Hardacre.

The stunning 90-seat interior at Daughter became the backdrop for date nights and celebrations. Hardacre’s experience at Osha Thai, another Bay Area stalwart for upscale Thai cuisine, has helped to inform Daughter’s decidedly luxurious approach.

But Hardacre said she has always dreamt of doing something more casual. So when the boba place next door shuttered, she and Rungrueang sprang at the opportunity to take over the space.

Insee’s concise menu will feature five noodle soup bowls and three street rice plates. There will be Sukothai Tom Yum noodles, with ground and barbecue pork, dried shrimp, pork ball, bean sprouts, Chinese broccoli and peanut in a slow-cooked, spicy lemongrass broth. On the more decadent side, the Four Season Duck Noodles will come with roast duck, bean sprouts, Chinese bok choy, garlic oil, green onion and cilantro.